Pages

September 24, 2009

Perhaps you recall blog entries (below) about the devastating flood that destroyed our animal shelter earlier in 2009. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation came to our aid. However, before receiving any grant money we had to have many projects planned out, including medicine budgets for 3-4 Veterinary Volunteer trips to be held before the end of 2009.

Their generous grant would help rebuild some of the shelter, but did not fund any repairs on the volunteer housing located there or the “maloca,” a multi-use screened in hut for mobile clinics and humane education classes. These necessary buildings are coming along much more slowly. However, I am proud to announce that the animal shelter is nearly complete. We finally began to re-locate animals into the shelter this week.

The reality is that we are located in the most remote area of the world. No roads lead to the Amazon, and especially to where our jungle property is located! Building materials are very expensive, and transportation issues to our small port or muddy dirt paths add can double the cost!

September 7, 2009

Oscar, of World Woof Tours, is a dog of mixed breed, who since his rescue, travels the planet visiting organizations that help homeless dogs. Though he now calls South Africa home, he will be spending many days away from home in order to fulfill a vow he made to help other shelter dogs find homes of their own if he was ever so luck to find one himself. He is making good on his promise, sponsoring one shelter dog at each organization, over 60 this year. In Oscar's own words, his goal is

"...to support, uplift, encourage and better the life for dogs in their districts. Together, we are going to create exciting and interesting events to draw positive attention for dog adoption with the global goal of getting doors opening for dogs. With your support of my Mighty Mutt Mission, we can save lives and give a dog a home, sweet bone."

Oscar will be visiting Peru November 22nd through December 1st, where his itinerary includes the following:

Barking up the right heart:1: Oscar buckles up with members of the media, volunteers and adoptable dogs from the Associacion Amigos de los Animales's for a public 'Do Adopt A Dog' awareness campaign through the lanes of Lima on board the best woofing bus in town!

2: Oscar joins Amazon CARES –the only welfare organization working within the Amazon region of Peru! Oscar hits the streets with the Amazon Cares team to promote much needed Woof Welfare awareness.

3: Oscar takes a cruise down the Amazon and discusses Woof Welfare with indigenous communities like that of the Peurto Miguel Village.

Pant of Interest: Machu picchu: Oscar unravels the secrets of the Inca Trail without the yelp of a lama!

The Treat: Oscar on board The Aqua for an expedition to remember!

Yap Snap: Oscar posing with the Inca people in their traditional polleras. Brightly colored collars invited...

Check back here for more info about Oscar's upcoming visit with Amazon CARES.

A surprising number of people in Peru like to kill dogs and cats with veneno(poison). Municipalities such as Barranco and Miraflores use highly toxic insecticides in public gardens that routinely poison pets. And poisoning a dog or cat is not a crime in Peru.

El Fotografo and El Hijo took Lola to Leoncio Prado park, in Miraflores, to play fetch on Wednesday. They had her running after the ball, something she never tires of, for more than half an hour, when Lola chased la pelota into the edge of a flowerbed.

She grabbed the ball with her snout, turned around and stopped in her tracks. She backed up two steps and vomited in the grass, heaved some more, and barfed up another batch of liquid.

Her sides were heaving and she weaved all over the grass, nose twitching. EF and EH walked her home, where she collapsed in the backyard. She lay there breathing rapidly, eyes closed, and I screamed for EF to drive her to the vet. We had to carry her to the car in a blanket.

Ten minutes later, Lola lay on the examination table as the vet probed her mouth and felt her stomach. One side of her mouth was swollen and her gums and skin around the eyes were all white — signs of poisoning, he said. She was in shock. He injected her with Cortisone, antibiotic and something to calm her stomach. After several minutes she began to breath normally and she looked at us with recognition.

Several days later, after more antibiotics, Gatorade and TLC, Lola is back to normal. We’re not sure what Lola ingested — plant insecticide, rat poison, a poisoned piece of meat left by a vindictive neighbor. The vet doesn’t know either.

It’s shocking to see a healthy animal go from lively to comatose in the space of 30 seconds. What’s even more shocking is that poisoning episodes like this happen routinely in Peru.

I began hearing from Peruvians about poisoned “bocados” (mouthfuls) as soon as I posted about the incident on Twitter and Facebook, Wednesday.

Even El Hijo’s best friend from school sadly reported that his poodle died in this way last year, after snarfing up rat poison while being walked by the maid in San Isidro.

Health standards are so low in Peru that there is little to no control of poisons in this country — an alarming situation for anyone, Peruvian or foreign, who keeps a pet here. The so-called tradition of poisoning dogs has even created a black market for pet poisons, as various Latin American newspapers have reported.

A Peruvian company El Jazmines is marketing 100-gram packets of “El Asesino” — single-dose servings of poison for rats, dogs and cats. I haven’t seen this product for sale in Peru, but then again, until this week I wasn’t looking. The powerful poison induces a violent death by vomiting and then asphyxiation, reported El Mercurio de Calama last year. El Asesino, Perrofin and similar poisons also pose grave risks to human beings.

The Chilean newspaper reported that the Chilean health ministry had raised an alert in that country last year, after two salesmen were caught selling the illegal product at Chilean fairs.

None of the preliminary searches I’ve done on the Internet has indicated that Peru forbids the manufacture or sale of these products.

So this is a great position for an expat dog owner to be in. I’m raising a dog in a country where public demand for pet poisons has spawned an industry of grab-and-go poison packs. Poison is so readily available and used so indiscriminately, *24 children died in the Andes from eating a government-issued breakfast spiked with a crop poison in October 1999. Similar poisonings have happened in Ecuador.

If you own in dog in Peru, you should be alarmed. At least familiarize yourself with the symptoms of poisoning in dogs and have a good vet nearby.

Leave a comment if you or someone you know has lost a pet to this cruel practice.

*original link unavailable
Amazon CARES would like to thank Ms. Drake for allowing us to share her blog with you. Her story underscores the importance of Humane Education in Peru.

Personal Note by Director Molly Mednikow: I brought my American dog, Sydney, to live with me in Perú, and she was the victim of poisoning. The feeling of helplessness is gut-wrenching. Luckily, I was in a position to get her help very quickly. I cried as she convulsed and vomited as the CARES vet flushed her system with IV fluids. Sydney survived, but I remember swearing that if she was ever poisoned again, I would leave Perú. That is a significant statement from me. Sydney was not poisoned again, but she did die and early and unnatural death from an infectious disease not common in the US. I will always feel guilty for this. Like Brando from the previous post, rest in piece my beloved Sydney.